With his team trailing the Indy Fuel late in Friday’s home game, Greenville defenseman Spiro Goulakos skated hard to the front of the net. Teammate Ahti Oksanen fed a timely pass to Goulakos, who hammered the puck for a tying goal.

The powerful shot of the second-year pro has been a welcome addition to the Swamp Rabbits’ offensive arsenal this season. Goulakos’ goal in Greenville’s important 5-4 win March 24 was emblematic of his contributions to the team’s playoff push.

Goulakos and his teammates start a three-games-in-four-days series with Atlanta at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena at 7 p.m. Thursday. Though the Gladiators are out of the playoffs, Greenville must treat the series as a playoff.

The Swamp Rabbits are battling for a playoff spot in the ECHL South Division.

“It makes the games more meaningful,” Goulakos said of the playoff chase. “You’ve got to work for every point. If you are going to end up getting into the playoffs, it really prepares you for that and what’s to come.”

While advancing to and winning playoff games would be special, Goulakos has already achieved a big win in his life.

Making it through

A routine checkup just before Christmas during his sophomore year at Colgate University found an abnormality in Goulakos’ blood. Within days, he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma stage 2.

“I was a little bit fortunate with my prognosis,” Goulakos said. “Being a younger guy, and as people say, in shape and that kind of thing, it helped me deal with the chemo pretty well. My side effects weren’t that bad, at least at the beginning. So it didn’t stop me from pursuing my school and continuing to play hockey.”

One aspect of what he went through in overcoming the disease is the support he received from people he knew and people he didn’t.

“It was overwhelming, to be honest with you," he said. "Obviously, family and close friends first and foremost, teammates as well, and then the Colgate community in general. Then the hockey community at large. I was getting emails from players on other teams, coaches, a lot of people I didn’t know who either had a connection with school or through hockey who were reaching out and sending their thoughts and well-wishes, which was really nice.”

Goulakos missed 10 of 18 games after the diagnosis but stayed with the team and continued his studies.

Today, he knows that as others once encouraged him, he can share what he learned with others.

“I think the biggest message is don’t let it define you and don’t let it stop you from staying active and pursuing your goals and that kind of thing,” he said. “I don’t like when people are like ‘everything happens for a reason.’ I don’t really buy into that kind of philosophy, so to speak, but just get through and move on and appreciate your life that much more.”

A desire for progress

Goulakos has been a key element in the Swamp Rabbits’ plan to use its defense to generate offense, scoring 15 goals with 19 assists through 41 games. He has used his strong shot from the blue line to produce points or to open opportunities for teammates.

“We have some weapons up front, obviously,” said Goulakos. “I’ve got pretty good chemistry with those guys. Fortunately, we’ve been able to feed off each other. They make it easy. I’ve been getting opportunities thanks to them and vice versa. We’ve got a lot of punch up front.”

Greenville coach Brian Gratz said, “We knew that he could help with what we wanted to do with the direction of our team. We felt defensemen have to really add a scoring element with the way the game’s played today. Spiro’s really added to that mentality we have of (defense) joining in the play and being smart about when to join and when not to.

“He’s got great offensive instincts. He’s got a big shot. He’s very adept at getting that shot off and getting it through to the net, which is one of the biggest challenges, especially the way teams play their collapsing defense.”

One thing that’s apparent about Goulakos is his confidence in his own abilities. While he had two call-ups in 2015-16 from Elmira to the AHL plus a pair of trips this year from Greenville to Hartford, he believes he has shown he’s ready for a longer stay at a higher level of hockey.

“The fact that I’m down here is real frustrating to be honest with you,” he said. “I think I’ve proven myself at this level, and I think I deserve to be at that level, but obviously, people don’t agree with that.

“The biggest criticism on me is my skating. Obviously, I’m not the swiftest skater, but it doesn’t really hinder me at that level. It’s not like you can’t out-think guys and use your brain to get yourself into position or anticipate plays better, which make up for your discrepancy in skating. It’s a little bit of a cop-out, but I think it’s something that obviously if my abilities were a little stronger, I’d probably be up there. For whatever reason, it’s one knock on me I always get.”

For now, Goulakos and the rest of the Swamp Rabbits are skating a narrow path toward a playoff spot.

“The fans, they’ve actually been great,” he said. “The turnouts have been tremendous, and we feed off of that. Hopefully, we’ll get into the playoffs and take advantage of home ice.”